1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to new polycarbon sulphide derivatives, to the preparation thereof and to the application thereof, particularly in electrochemistry.
2. Discussion of the Invention
There have already been described in the review "Carbon", Vol. 19 page 175 et seq (1981), superficial complexes of carbon and sulphur which provide the possibility of establishing carbon-sulphur bonds at the surface of the carbon, thus forming superficial carbon-sulphur complexes.
However, given the high temperatures involved in their preparation, of the order of 500.degree. C. and 800.degree. C., the carbon chains are branched. This which reduces the number of sites available to be sulphuretted. In this connection, examination of these compounds confirms that their sulphur content is a maximum of 40%. This is considerably less than the theoretical values, resulting in a reduction in the capacity of these compounds per unit mass. Also, the high temperatures involved lead to excessive energy consumption.
Moreover, these materials include a significant proportion of thiolactones. The electrochemical reduction of these thiolactones is difficult to reverse and this limits the performance of generators (cells) having electrodes made from these materials, such as those of the type Li--(CS.sub.y).sub.n.